I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 36 - Lee Ha-eun.

Sunday finally came.

I finished getting ready and headed to the gukbap place we’d agreed to meet at.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept well the night before.

My nerves, already on edge, got even sharper.

I sipped my coffee and thought.

‘This meal with Lee Ha-eun.’

On top of that, out of nowhere, an acting prodigy named Choi Go-eun had shown up too.

…Damn it.

Put it all together like that, and it’d be strange if my nerves weren’t sharp.

I let out a heavy sigh and muttered.

“Let’s set the meal aside for now.”

Which of the two actresses should get the Seo Rin-bi role?

‘Common sense says… yeah.’

It’s Choi Go-eun.

She still had plenty of gaps compared to Lee Ha-eun, but Choi Go-eun was someone I could control.

Lee Ha-eun, on the other hand…

I don’t know.

If I could lock her into the project, she’d be the best choice, but was that really the right call?

Too much had happened between me and Lee Ha-eun to just look at the project and slot her in.

‘Starting with that night we spent together.’

Even so, the reason I couldn’t give up on Lee Ha-eun for the Seo Rin-bi role was how she’d been treating me lately.

‘She’s not hating me the way she used to.’

If she still hated me, she wouldn’t have stepped in during the whole Team Leader Kim Seong-hun mess.

Looking at it that way, the Queen of Joseon interview was the same.

“She definitely mentioned it on purpose.”

Knowing Lee Ha-eun’s personality, that lip service wasn’t an accident.

She’d brought me up deliberately.

‘What could have changed that woman?’

She was too unpredictable for me to guess the reason.

After going back and forth, I finally turned my thoughts elsewhere.

“Yeah… whatever.”

Worrying about it now wasn’t going to get me an answer anyway.

So why bother making it complicated?

‘I’d be seeing Lee Ha-eun soon enough.’

Of course, I wasn’t going to just eat with her and leave it at that.

‘I’d ask her. What’s going on with her lately.’

It wouldn’t be too late to think about the Seo Rin-bi role after I heard the reason.

Once I’d sorted things out like that, my tangled head cleared right up.

Feeling my sharp nerves loosen a little, I looked up.

The gukbap place we’d agreed on came into view in the distance.

I parked in the lot and got out, and the sky, clear until a moment ago, had clouded over.

“Guess it’s about to rain.”

I clicked my tongue and went into the restaurant.

I’d been here a few times before with Lee Ha-eun, so the owner, who knew my face, greeted me.

“Kwon Chan-ssi. It’s been a while.”

“Have you been well?”

“Yes. Lee Ha-eun-ssi’s in the room in the back.”

I gave a small nod and headed for the room the owner had pointed to.

I stood in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath.

“… Whew.”

Once, twice, three times.

I took exactly three deep breaths and opened the door.

-Click!

Lee Ha-eun, who’d been looking out the window, turned her head.

Short dolphin shorts and an oversized box tee.

Plain enough to look like she’d just stepped out the door, but on her face it shone like she was wearing designer clothes.

A woman who was a luxury brand in herself.

Top star actress Lee Ha-eun’s lips parted.

“You’re early.”

I sat down across from her and answered.

“You’re the one who’s early. Why?”

“I had time.”

Time to spare, and that’s why the great Lee Ha-eun showed up early to an appointment?

The same woman who ditched her schedule at the drop of a hat and made a habit of showing up late?

She really was something.

Lying from the very first word.

Meanwhile, Lee Ha-eun waved her chopsticks around and said.

“But of all things, you picked a gukbap place?”

“You liked the gukbap here.”

“I did.”

Lee Ha-eun’s eyes curved into half-moons.

“But you actually remembered I like gukbap?”

How could I not?

Lee Ha-eun was the kind of woman who wouldn’t even eat one proper meal because of her diet.

But the one food she actually ate was gukbap.

Something about how eating gukbap left her feeling full and satisfied.

Considering it was the food preference of a woman who skipped all three meals a day for her diet, there was no way I’d forget it.

“Should we order boiled pork slices too?”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll get pork gukbap, and you’re having sundae gukbap, right?”

I nodded.

Personally, I liked sundae gukbap more than pork gukbap.

Once we’d finished ordering, a light silence settled over us.

But Lee Ha-eun and I could both feel it.

-… Crash!

Like that sky where lightning had suddenly started striking.

That the space between us right now was the calm before a storm too.

In that heavy tension, I thought.

‘How should I bring this up?’

Now that it came down to actually saying it, opening my mouth wasn’t easy.

A woman I’d lived like an enemy with.

But also a woman I’d spent one night with.

How was I supposed to easily ask a woman like that why she’d been helping me lately?

But if I ran from this, nothing would come of it either way.

That wasn’t what I wanted.

I looked up and met Lee Ha-eun’s eyes.

Her eyes, shining like stars, were watching me steadily.

My mouth moved slowly.

“Lee Ha-eun-ssi.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s going on with you lately?’

Lee Ha-eun tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you keep helping me like this?”

“I helped you?”

“Yes.”

Lee Ha-eun laughed.

“Is that why you asked me to eat with you? Just to ask that?”

“Not exactly, but it’s one of the reasons.”

“Interesting. Go on, then. Where exactly did I help you?”

“The whole Team Leader Kim Seong-hun thing, for one…”

The smile hanging on Lee Ha-eun’s lips deepened little by little.

“Didn’t you deliberately bring me up in the Queen of Joseon interview too?”

The bigger that smile grew, the bigger the unease inside me grew with it.

But it was too late to take it back.

I took a deep breath and threw the direct pitch.

“We’re done with each other. Why are you doing this to me? You hate me, don’t you?”

I finished saying it and steadied my ragged breathing.

I saw Lee Ha-eun with a strange smile hanging on her lips.

Whether she had no intention of answering or not, her tightly shut lips showed no sign of parting.

How much time passed like that?

Lee Ha-eun finally muttered, out of nowhere.

“This is hard to hold back.”

“?”

“Guess I should be glad you’re not an idiot.”

“??”

“You actually caught on, Kwon Chan? That I helped you.”

My eyes went wide.

Meanwhile, Lee Ha-eun’s head tilted at an angle.

“Why did I help you, I wonder.”

My heart started pounding.

I forced myself to ignore the beat and answered.

“That’s something you should answer.”

“If you knew, you’d run.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Why would I run?”

“Yeah? You sure about that?”

“Just say it already.”

Lee Ha-eun’s body leaned forward.

I flinched before I knew it, my shoulders shaking.

“No. You’ll run.”

Close enough that our lips would touch if either of us dipped our head even a little.

Lee Ha-eun’s breath, hot enough to almost scald, brushed over my face.

“Because Kwon Chan, you hate me, don’t you?”

My heart was beating so hard my eardrums felt like they’d burst.

Through it, I saw Lee Ha-eun’s face had changed.

Two cheeks flushed bright red.

Pupils slightly unfocused.

A gaze that stared at my face with relentless intensity.

A change in Lee Ha-eun I hadn’t noticed until just now.

My eyes went wide.

‘This…’

It was, without question, the face of a woman in love.

In that moment, lightning struck inside my head.

‘Huh?’

Lee Ha-eun’s sudden change in attitude, the way she’d been strangely fixated on me in her actions and words.

And finally, that night, the way she’d clung to me so desperately, courting me.

Just as my breathing started to go ragged, Lee Ha-eun whispered.

“Kwon Chan, a woman…”

Her voice, trailing off, coiled around my ear like a snake.

“…doesn’t spend a night with a man she has no feelings for.”

My wildly pounding heart exploded.

---

My head went blank.

‘What is this supposed to mean?’

Lee Ha-eun liked me?

Was she actually crazy?

No, wait.

Last time I asked, she said it wasn’t like that…

Had she changed her mind?

Or was this a lie?

Unable to believe what was happening, I stared straight at Lee Ha-eun’s face.

But… it wasn’t an empty word.

The look Lee Ha-eun was giving me had turned thick and heavy, different from a moment ago.

Startled, I held my breath.

‘For real?’

Top star actress Lee Ha-eun.

The woman every man called a fantasy, and she liked me?

‘Why, of all things?’

Wasn’t she a woman who could seduce men across the entire world if she felt like it?

What could a woman like that possibly be lacking, that she’d like… me?

By my common sense, it was a confession I couldn’t possibly accept.

But the thrill I was feeling right now…

…was the best.

-Thump, thump!

My dopamine blew past its limit.

It was enough that I couldn’t even remember all the intense things that had happened back to back lately.

Right as that electric thrill was about to blow my reason away.

Lee Ha-eun burst into giggles.

“Your face is way too funny. Can I take a picture?”

My scattered wits came rushing back like it was a joke.

I lifted my head and looked at Lee Ha-eun again.

She had her arms crossed, acting like she had it all under control, but her face was flushed red as a ripe persimmon.

That very Lee Ha-eun…

…was pretending otherwise, but she was embarrassed.

In that moment, my lips moved.

“Lee Ha-eun-ssi…”

“Kwon Chan. I’m Lee Ha-eun.”

“?”

Lee Ha-eun’s voice suddenly turned ice cold.

Her face went pale again just as suddenly, like the flush had never happened.

“I don’t take on a fight unless I can win it.”

Lee Ha-eun was back to her usual self.

From a woman in love, back to the crazy bitch I knew.

“But this fight, my loss is way too obvious, isn’t it?”

The actress, made entirely of arrogance and pride, smiled brightly.

“So don’t worry. I don’t like you. I’m not into men who don’t like me either.”

“…”

“So? Does that answer it?”

I held my breath.

‘Does that answer it, she says?’

In a situation like this?

That answer just now?

A hollow laugh burst out of me.

‘Is she actually insane?’

Because I hated her, she’d rather die than say she liked me.

Was that basically what she meant?

Coming from anyone else, it’d be an excuse I couldn’t buy.

But because it was Lee Ha-eun, it made perfect sense.

A woman made entirely of arrogance and pride.

Because that’s exactly who Lee Ha-eun was.

Feeling the excitement that had run hot like a runaway train cool down fast, I muttered.

‘But… right.’

Even if Lee Ha-eun liked me, my answer wasn’t going to change.

I still disliked that woman, still felt uncomfortable around her.

Even if it was a top star actress’s love, too much had piled up between us.

Lee Ha-eun knew that too, so that’s probably why she was acting like that.

‘Just as well as I knew Lee Ha-eun, she knew me too.’

There was no way that arrogant actress would ever fall into something like unrequited love.

Feeling my reason come back, I drank down some water again.

‘If that’s the reason, it makes sense.’

Lee Ha-eun’s sudden change in behavior, attitude, and speech.

Even what happened that night, it all made sense now.

With my composure back, my thinking opened up a little wider.

‘I want to check on one more thing.’

Looking at Lee Ha-eun’s expression, she seemed to have no intention of saying anything more.

But I had no intention of backing down either.

Just a bit more.

I needed a little more certainty.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Lee Ha-eun-ssi, let me ask you one more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re not planning to give up, are you?”

Lee Ha-eun burst out in a mocking laugh.

“You’re the one who should give up and come back to being my manager, don’t you think?”

“…”

“Stop wasting your time with lower-tier kids. Don’t you know a manager’s position changes with who they’re in charge of?”

Lee Ha-eun’s eyes curved in a bewitching way.

“You’ve got to climb higher. You’re greedy for success, aren’t you? Am I wrong?”

Right.

I was greedy for success.

That’s exactly why I was trying to shove that crazy woman into The Priest in Black.

But now…

…separate from my ambition, I’d started getting curious.

‘Lee Ha-eun looks like she has absolutely no intention of giving up, doesn’t she?’

As the only one of Lee Ha-eun’s former managers to last a full year, as a certified Lee Ha-eun expert, I could say this for sure.

Lee Ha-eun had no intention of giving up on me.

‘What on earth could make her like me this much?’

Had there ever been time for love to sprout between us?

Not that I could remember, at least.

‘Or was there some other reason?’

What could that reason possibly be?

And I…

…I was dying to know that reason.

Enough that even knowing it was crazy, I wanted to keep Lee Ha-eun close and find out.

‘So this is… right.’

A crazy move, but a reasoned one.

Kwon Chan the manager.

And Kwon Chan the person. A reasoned kind of crazy for both sides of me.

Bringing Lee Ha-eun onto The Priest in Black would benefit both sides.

I shut my eyes tight and pulled out The Priest in Black script.

Damn it!

“What’s this?”

“The script for a new project.”

“Why hand this to me all of a sudden?”

The water was already spilled.

I pushed straight ahead like a real man.

“This is actually why I came.”

“…”

“I found a good script, and I thought it’d suit you. Even if I’m not your manager anymore, we’re still on the same Team 5, so I can at least recommend you a script, right?”

The corner of Lee Ha-eun’s mouth twitched.

“You’re uncomfortable around me, but you still want to work together?”

“Yes. Lee Ha-eun-ssi, I’m not sure about you as a person, but…”

I trailed off, then spoke with conviction.

“As an actress, you’re the best I’ve ever seen.”

Lee Ha-eun’s eyes went wide.

She stayed like that for a long while, staring at me, and a faint nasal sound slipped from her lips.

“I’ll do it. Tell them I’m signing on.”

My eyebrows twitched.

“Without even reading the script?”

“Why would I need to read a script you’re giving me?”

Lee Ha-eun smirked.

“My former manager has an amazing eye for scripts. Of course he’d bring me a good one.”

Lee Ha-eun’s sudden, direct pitch caught me off guard, and my eyes went wide.

-Thump, thump!

More than when I’d learned Lee Ha-eun liked me…

…my heart pounded even harder.

‘Why does this feel so good?’

I don’t know.

Was being recognized by Lee Ha-eun really that big a deal?

Unable to admit it, I got up from my seat.

“Let’s get going.”

“Already?”

“The rain’s stopped too, so we should head out.”

I turned my head.

The summer weather that had been storming just before had cleared up like it was all a lie.

“Looks like things are about to get busy starting tomorrow.”

Lee Ha-eun, who’d been staring straight at me, nodded.

“Yeah, sure.”

Lee Ha-eun ran her hand gently over my shoulder and whispered.

“There’s plenty of time anyway.”

That’s how the meal with Lee Ha-eun wrapped up.

And I’d gotten the next project of Korea’s top actress, and…

…her heart.

---

The next day.

Baekhak’s head office turned upside down.

“… Chief Kwon!”

A summons came down from the CEO.

News that Baekhak’s flagship star, Lee Ha-eun, had settled on her next project.